bailey



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. L. BAILEY.

AUTOMATIC VEHICLE BRAKE.

Patented Mar. 3, 1896.

{No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. L. BAILEY. AUTOMATIC VEHICLE BRAKE.

No. 555,720. Patented Mar. 3, 1896.

I -75 1, xelmxe-mq g- I to fit different machines.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT L. BAILEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE BAILEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC VEHICLE-BRAKE. I

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,720, dated March 3, 1896.

Application filed May 4, 1894-.- Serial No. 510,027. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HERBERT LEONIDAS BAILEY, manufacturer, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Vehicle-Brakes; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The subject of the present invention is a brake for use on vehicles that are driven by gearing which includes a sprocket-chain and a pair of sprocket-wheels about which the chain is trained, and the invention relates to that class of brakes that are operated by or through the lateral movement of the normally slack side of the driving-chain, a brake of this class being shown and described in Letters Patent No. 517 ,996, which were granted to the Bailey Manufacturing Company on the 10th day of April, 1894. In the brake shown in that patent the spoon is carried by one of two arms which project from a rock-shaft, the other of said arms being provided with an antifriction-roller so located that it will be engaged and moved by the normally slack side of the chain whenever the slack is transferred to the normally taut side of the chain, the movement of the antifrictionroller thus produced being transmitted to the spoon through the medium of the arms and shaft aforesaid. In the brake shown in the patent there is no provision for adjustment to fit machines in which the distance between the ground-wheel and framevaries, excepting such adjustment as is possible by changing the location of the clip by whichthe rockshaft is supported and attached to the frame of the machine. The spoon is not adjustable with relation to the arm by which it is carried It is of course understood that in order to secure a nicety of action it is necessary that the spoon occupy a certain relation to the periphery of the wheel and that the antifriction-roller or other device that may be substituted therefor occupy a certain relation to the driving-chain that is to say, the spoon should be hung so that only a slight movement is necessary to bring it into contact with the wheel, and so that when in contact it will bear from end to end instead of only at or near its outer eX-.

tremity, and the antifriction-roller or its substitute should be so located that the maximum lateral movement of the normally slack side of the chain will move it a sufficient distance to apply the brake with sufficient force to stop the vehicle as quickly as may be necessary in any emergency, while at the same time a slight lateral movement of the chain will not apply the brake at all.

IVith a machine having a frame of any given construction it is of course possible to construct a brake in strict accordance with the patent aforesaid which will give these results, and, as a matter of fact, the brake shown in the patent, when applied to a machine having a frame of the construction therein shown, does give these results. It is well known, however, that frames differ in construction very materially, and that even in those frames of the same general character the proportions and relative locations of the parts differ.

The object of the present invention is to provide a brake of the character in question of such construction that it can be made and sold as a separate article of manufacture and applied to vehicles having frames diifering in construction. It is essential that such abrake have means for so adjusting the spoon that it will occupy the described relation to the periphery of the wheel, and means for so adj usting the antifriction-roller orits substitute that it will occupy the described relation to the driving-chain.

With this object in view the present invention consists in the features of novelty that are particularly pointed out in the claims hereinafter, and in order that it may be fully understood I will describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a vehicle and a brake embodying the invention in its preferred form applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of said brake on a somewhat larger scale. Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sections thereof on the lines 3 3 and 4 4, respectively. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the stop for limiting the movement of the spoon away from the wheel. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a portion of a vehicle and of a brake embodychain-driven and has a frame of the wellknown diamond type; but I desire to have it understood that this is merely illustrative, and that the invention is not limited in its application to a vehicle of any particular class.

Similar letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates the frame in which is journaled the pcdal-shaft B carrying the sprocket-wheel C.

D indicates the driving-wheel to the axle of which is secured a sproeket-wheel E, and 1* indicates the driving-chain which is trained about the two sprocket-wheels in customary manner. Upon the upright portion a of the frame is secured a clip G, having a pair of cars j, which are located some distance apart and are perforated for the passage of a bolt G, the perforations of one of the ears being tapped to engage the threads of the bolt.

II indicates a stop made of a piece of sheet metal having at its upper end a pair of perforated cars it, which are located at such distance apart that they rest against the ears f, and I indicates a sleeve fitting upon the central portion of the bolt and extending from one of the ears h to the other, this arrangement being such that when the bolt is tightened the earsf are drawn toward eachother, and they in turn draw the ears h toward each other until these latter are brought to a firm bearing against the ends of the sleeve I. Before the bolt is tightened the step may be adjusted to any desired position, and by tight ening the bolt the stop is firmly held against movement.

An arm J, which constitutes the hanger of the spoon K, is bifurcated at its upper end, and its two prongs j are perforated for receiving the sleeve 1, which they fit snugly, but without binding, it being the intention that the joint shall be sufliciently loose to permit the hanger to move by gravity or under the influence of the spring J, as desired, the ends of the spring being arranged to bear against the inner face of the clip G, while a central loop J therein bears upon the arm or spoon-hanger J, so as to hold the same in close contact with the stop H. The lower end of the hanger is provided with a circular enlargementy", which is serrated upon one side and is perforated for the passage of a bolt L, by means of which the spoon is attached, said spoon being provided upon its rear side with a perforated projection It, corresponding in size and shape to the enlargement j and having upon one of its sides serrations for engaging the serrations of the enlargementj and upon the other of its sides serrations for engaging corresponding serrations of the perforated head at of an arm M, which carries an antifriction-roller N, lying in the Vertical plane of the drivingchain. The perforations of the enlargement j and projection 7c are without threads and the portion Zof the bolt L that occupied these perforations is also without threads, while the perforation of the arm M is tapped, so that by turning up the bolt the parts j, k, and mare firmly but adjustably secured together.

It is, of course, necessary that the spoon K and roller N be located in the vertical planes of the wheel and driving-chain respectively, and since these planes are a considerable distance apart it becomes necessary to use the extension-arm M or its equivalent.

Very many bicycle-fra1nes of the present day have a part which corresponds more or less exactly with the part a, and which, it will be understood, is the post or upright by which the saddle-post is either directly or indirectly supported. IVithout alteration a brake constructed as above described may be applied to any machine having this upright. regardless of the angle of its inclination and (within certain limits) regardless of the distance between it and the wheel. In order to apply and adjust it, the clip Gis first secured to the part a at such a point that the spoon will come opposite that part of the periphery of the wheel against which it is desired to have it bear. This done, the spoon should be so adjusted that it will bear from end to end when brought into contact with the periphery of the wheel. The stop II should be so adjusted that it arrests the movement of the hanger when the spoon has moved the desired distance away from the periphery of the wheel, and the arm M should be so adjusted that normally the antifriction-roller N is out of contact with the normally slack side of the chain, but will, nevertheless, be engaged by said chain when the latter is moved laterally a predetermined distance. It is also desirable, to adapt the brake to diilt'erent machines, to have the roller N laterally adjustable with relation to the arm M, by which it is supported, and to this end I prefer to provide the series of washers M, interposed between the said roller and the hub N on the end of said arm, so that by increasing or decreasing the number or thickness of said washers the distance between a the roller l" and the hub of the arm M may be quickly and conveniently changed to adapt the brake for use in connection with machines in which the distance or relative location between the drive-chain and wheel varies materially.

So far as I am aware I am the first to provide a brake of the character described with a spoon which is adjustable with relation to its hanger, an adjustable stop for enga ing the hanger and limiting the movement of the spoon away from the wheel and an adjustable operating roller or lever, and, therefore, I do not regard my present invention as limited to the particular embodiment of these features shown in the drawings.

The brake shown in Figs. 6 and 7 does not differ from the one described, excepting in that the arm h which carries the antifrictionroller N, is straight instead of being offset, so as to form an extension of the hanger. As before stated, the primary obj ect of this arm is to bring the roller N in the plane of the driving-chain, and the object in forming it with an offset, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is to get an increased braking force. Vhere it proceeds beyond the extremity of the hanger, as here shown, the arm and hanger taken together constitute a simple lever, and being fulcrumed at one end and arranged to receive the force at the other end and the resistance at an intermediate point, it becomes a lover of the second class. In the arrangement shown in the patent the rock-shaft and its arms constitute a lever of the first class and the arrangement shown in Figs. 6 and 7 embodies a lever of the third class. Thus I have embodied levers of all three classes in brakes embodying my invention. I prefer a construction in which only a single simple lever of one or the other of these classes is used. Still I desire to have it understood that my invention is not limited thereto, and in Fig. 8 I have shown a brake having a system of levers. This brake has all of the parts of the brake shown in Figs. 6 and 7, excepting the antifriction-roller, and instead of this it has a link 0, pivotally connected at one end to the arm M and pivotally connected at the other end to an intermediate portion of a lever P, whose upper end is fulcrumed to a clip Q attached to the rear fork R, and whose lower end carries an adjustable shoe S, having a curved surface which is adapted to be engaged by the normally slack side of the driving-chain.

It will be understood that in all of the several forms of my invention normally the spoon is held out of contact with the wheel by the gravity of the several parts.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a brake for chain-driven vehicles, the combination of a hanger pivoted at one end and carrying a spoon at its opposite free end, a device located in position to be engaged and moved by the normally slack side of the driving-chain when moved laterally, and connected with the hanger at its free end for transmitting movement from said device to the hanger, substantially as set forth.

2. In a brake for chain-driven vehicles, the combination with a hanger pivoted at one end and carrying a spoon at its opposite free end, of a device laterally adjustable with relation to said hanger and located in position to be engaged and moved by the normally slack side of the driving-chain when the latter is moved laterally, and connected with the hanger at its free end for transmitting movement from said device to the hanger, substantially as set forth.

3. In a brake for chain-driven vehicles, the combination with a hanger pivoted at one end and carrying a spoon at its opposite free end, of a device laterally and vertically adjustable with relation to said hanger, and located in position to be engaged and moved by the normally slack side of the driving-chain when the latter is moved laterally, said device being connected with the hanger at its free end, substantially as set forth.

at. In a brake for chain-driven vehicles, the combination of a hanger pivoted at one end and carrying a spoon at its opposite free end, and an arm proceeding from the free end of said hanger and adapted to receive movement from the normally slack side of the drivingchain, when the latter is moved laterally, substautially as set forth.

5. In a brake for chain-driven vehicles, the combination of a hanger pivoted at one end and carrying a spoon at its opposite free end, an adjustable connection between said spoon and hanger, and an arm proceeding from the free end of said hanger and adapted to receive movement from the normally slack side of the driving-chain, when the latter is moved laterally, and an adjustable connection between said arm and hanger, substantially as set forth.

6. In a brake for chain-driven vehicles, the combination of a hanger pivoted at one end, an arm proceeding from the opposite free end of said hanger and beyond the extremity thereof, the arm being adapted to receive movement from the normally slack side of the driving-chain, when the latter is moved laterally, the said hanger and arm constituting a lever, and a spoon attached to the said lever between its fulcrum and the point to which the power is applied for setting the brakes, substantially as set forth.

7. In a brake for vehicles, the combination of a hanger perforated near its free end, a spoon having a perforated projection, an arm having a perforated head and arranged to be engaged at its free end by the normally slack side of the driving-chain, and a bolt passing through said perforations and adj ustably connecting the hanger, spoon and arm, the meeting faces of the hanger, projection and arm having interlocking features, substantially as set forth.

8. In a brake for chain-driven vehicles, the combination of a hanger, a spoon and an arm proceeding from the hanger, and means adj ustably securing said parts together, the arm being adapted to receive movement from the normally slack side of the driving-chain when the latter is moved laterally, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination of the perforated ears f, the stop-plate II having perforated ears 7L and clamp them against the ends of the tube, located between and in contact with the ears substantially as set forth. 1', the sleeve Ibearlng at its ends against the ears 71 the hanger suspended loosely from HERBERT L. BAILEY. 5 said sleeve and carrying a spoon, and the bolt \Vitnesses:

G passing through the perforated ears and M. E. SHIELDS,

tube and adapted to draw the ears f together Y O. R. BARNETT. 

